wipe.
To move an object over, maintaining contact, with the intention of removing some substance from the surface. (Compare rub.)
Meaning & usage
To move an object over, maintaining contact, with the intention of removing some substance from the surface. (Compare rub.)
Melissa wiped her glasses with her shirt.
I wiped the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand.
To smear (a substance) with this kind of motion.
You've wiped grease all over your shirt.
To remove by rubbing; to rub off; to obliterate; usually followed by away, off, or out.
To clean (the anus, buttocks and/or genitals) after defecation or urination.
I had nothing to wipe my bum with.
Even if you wipe very carefully, you still have to wash your hands afterward.
To erase.
I accidentally wiped my hard drive.
To make (a joint, as between pieces of lead pipe), by surrounding the junction with a mass of solder, applied in a plastic condition by means of a rag with which the solder is shaped by rubbing.
To remove an expression from one's face.
You should wipe that smirk off your face before the boss comes in.
To deperm (a ship).
To perform a transition in which one scene or slide is replaced with another over time along a horizontal axis, as if one scene or slide is a layer being slid off the other.
To hit or strike.
To cheat; to defraud; to trick; usually followed by out.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English wipen, from Old English wīpian (“to wipe, rub, cleanse”), from Proto-West Germanic *wīpōn (“to wipe”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyp- (“to twist, wind around”). Cognate with German wippen (“to bob”), Swedish veva (“to turn, wind, crank”), Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍀𐌰𐌽 (weipan, “to wreathe, crown”), Old English swīfan (“to revolve, sweep, wend, intervene”), Sanskrit वेपते (vépate, “to tremble”). More at swivel, swift.
The act of wiping something.
multiple wipes of a computer's hard disk
A soft piece of cloth or cloth-like material used for wiping.
A handkerchief.
A kind of film transition where one shot replaces another by travelling from one side of the frame to another or with a special shape.
A sarcastic remark; a reproof, a jibe.
A blow or swipe; the act of striking somebody or something.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English wipen, from Old English wīpian (“to wipe, rub, cleanse”), from Proto-West Germanic *wīpōn (“to wipe”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyp- (“to twist, wind around”). Cognate with German wippen (“to bob”), Swedish veva (“to turn, wind, crank”), Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍀𐌰𐌽 (weipan, “to wreathe, crown”), Old English swīfan (“to revolve, sweep, wend, intervene”), Sanskrit वेपते (vépate, “to tremble”). More at swivel, swift.
A lapwing, especially a northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus).
Where this word comes from
Compare Swedish vipa, Danish vibe (“lapwing”).
To have all members of a party die in a single campaign, event, or battle; to be wiped out.
If you try to fight that boss underprepared, you're definitely gonna wipe.
Where this word comes from
From wipe out (verb) and wipeout (noun) by shortening.
An instance of all members of a party dying in a single campaign, event, or battle; a wipeout.
Where this word comes from
From wipe out (verb) and wipeout (noun) by shortening.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.